What are my options on how to fix bad breath?

No one wants to be ‘that person’ with bad breath. There’s nothing worse than having someone back away from you while you’re talking.

Ways to fix bad breath or avoid it include:

Brushing regularly:

Brushing your teeth twice a day removes the film of bacteria from your teeth and gums that can cause your breath to smell bad. Replace your toothbrush every three or four months and keep one at work if you want to remove odour from your breath immediately after eating.

Cleaning your tongue:

The tongue is generally overlooked during oral care but it can harbour tiny bits of food and plaque. The way to clean your tongue is to gently sweep the toothbrush over the surface to remove food and bacteria that can reside there and cause bad breath. If you have a coated tongue, it might be worth looking into investing in a tongue scraper that you can get from the chemist.

Using dental floss at least once a day:

Using dental floss on your teeth at least once a day will get rid of bits of food caught between the teeth and the plaque that builds up in these places that toothbrushes can’t reach. It’s often the smell of decaying food particles that cause foul smelling breath.

Avoiding certain drinks:

A big culprit when it comes to causing bad breath is coffee. Alcoholic beverages such as beer, whiskey and wine also cause breath to smell bad. They leave a residue that sticks to the plaque in your mouth so that on every out breath, the smells are propelled back into the air, usually the air of the person you’re speaking to.

Avoiding strong smelling food:

Soft cheeses with strong odours like Roquefort, Camembert and, of course, the blue cheeses can remain in your mouth long after you’ve finished eating them. Garlic, onions and hot chillies are also able to linger long after the meal has finished. Avoiding these food when you’re about to go on a romantic date is definitely a good idea.

Using natural breath fresheners:

Natural breath fresheners include parsley, which contains chlorophyll, a natural deodoriser or drinking a cup of mint tea or chewing on mint leaves after eating freshen the breath. Other natural breath deodorisers are cloves, anise seeds and fennel all best chewed after meals to bring your breath back to a sweet smelling fragrance.

Avoiding a dry mouth:

A dry mouth causes bad breath. Staying hydrated stops mouths from getting dry as well as getting smelly. Avoiding soft drinks, coffee and alcohol, which all cause the mouth to dry is healthy. If you have a severely or chronically dry mouth, a dentist can prescribe artificial saliva to help with the feeling and also your bad breath.

Stop smoking:

Smoking leads to bad breath as the scent of tobacco remains in the mouth long after the cigarette has been put out. If you chew tobacco, then chances are white teeth probably isn’t high on your list of priorities, either. The tars and toxins in your tobacco, no matter which way you enjoy it, all stick to your teeth and gradually ferment to cause nasty breath smells. Finding a way to kick your smoking or tobacco habit will change your life in so many ways.